If in doubt, get the Action Brothers

Recurring speculation, rumours and press conference questions about a possible reshuffle of the Bracks cabinet is starting to seriously irritate some sections of the Government, but please others.

The concentration of attention on embattled Police Minister Andre Haermeyer, and Arts and Planning Minister Mary Delahunty, has particularly upset strategists who fear any shake-up will be depicted as an admission of failure instead of a new start. Regardless of how annoying the reports are, and how often they are dismissed, the talk of a reshuffle won't go away because, sooner or later, it has to be done. Not just because a couple of under-performing ministers should make way for new blood but because it's a positive way for this four-year-old Government to tackle some of the negative rumbles coming from the business community.

Many of the claims of inactivity on infrastructure development and bureaucratic paralysis are exaggerated, but there is a growing discontent in the private sector about what they say is an overly cautious, if not occasionally hostile, public service attitude towards public-private partnerships and development proposals.

One former adviser to the Government says some departments and authorities have become so obsessed with probity issues in the tendering process they have difficulty telling businesses what the Government wants and at what price.

This is not only frustrating business, but costing it a fortune in paperwork and enriching lawyers and consultants.

Critics say some senior administrators in Treasury, and the Department of Sustainability and Environment responsible for water resources, appear not to share the Government's enthusiasm for such partnerships.

Either way, perception is everything in politics, and the Bracks team appears to have been slow picking up the message that people want more visible action, and apparently slow in noticing the big end of town is becoming slightly concerned.

Neil Coulson, of the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry, put it politely last week when he said the Bracks Government had the commitment and the systems to free up planning and develop infrastructure but was lacking slightly in delivery.

The two most urgent moves that have to be made are in major projects, held by Transport Minister Peter Batchelor and Mary Delahunty's planning department. Relieving Batchelor of major projects could hardly be construed as an admission of failure. He's probably had the least enviable workload of the whole Government. His two jobs are enormously testing for one person.

In his first term, Batchelor inherited the Metlink ticketing headache. This term it's the walkout by National Express, with the speed camera debacle thrown in for light relief.

According to the group pushing for change, the idea that Treasurer John Brumby rationalise some of his state and regional development responsibilities and takes over major projects makes great sense. As the man in charge of the budget, he has the power to cut through bureaucratic timidity and obstructionism. He should also have responsibility for water in rural Victoria, where he remains the best understood Labor politician.

Delahunty is a popular Arts Minister and loves the job. It should be her sole responsibility. If Attorney-General Rob Hulls dropped industrial relations he could bring a new vigour to planning. (Hulls and Brumby are seen as the Action Brothers of the cabinet.)

Another possible candidate would be Aged Care and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gavin Jennings, an architect with a real enthusiasm for complex planning issues and balancing development and conservation. There is no way Andre Haermeyer will be dumped from the ministry. But eventually Steve Bracks has to persuade his colleague of the need for a new, more junior job.